St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church was organized in 1870. The well-to-do Irish congregation met in a house on Warren Street before building their first church, on Fifth Avenue at Bergen Street, a year later at a cost of $43,000. The church initially planned to erect a school, and ultimately a larger church, but the intrusion of the elevated stream train along Fifth Avenue resulted in the church selling the property to the railway.

An immense vacant lot bounded by Sixth Avenue, Park Place and Sterling Place was purchased for $50,000 cash, and plans were made for a complex which would include a church, parochial house and school, and possibly a chapel. Ground was broken on November 6, 1887 for the church edifice proper, which was expected to cost $150,000 and take two years to build. At the time, though, the exact plan had not been decided upon, and it would be almost five years before the church was dedicated on May 15, 1892.

The new church was designed in a transitional English-Gothic style by the Parfitt Brothers, a leading architectural firm responsible for many public buildings, churches and residences in Brooklyn. Built of brownstone, St. Augustine's occupies more than half a block between Sterling and Park Places. The great tower, surmounted by a large cross, is 26 feet square and rises to a height of 150 feet. In the tower is an 18-note set of Deagan Tubular Tower Chimes, installed in 1923.

Many decorative furnishings adorn the interior, including the ornate pulpit, an altar which cost $20,000, and the 18-foot tall sanctuary lamp, made by Tiffany & Co., which has seven angels with uplifted wings atop a corona. There are thirty-five stained glass windows, many executed by the Tiffany Art Glass Co., which total 3,600 square feet and cost $30,000.

The New York Times account (May 16, 1892) of the dedication of St. Augustine's Church stated: "The altar from the old church will be used until the new twenty thousand altar is completed, and the old organ is being used, as the new one is not quite finished." In fact, the new organ was not to be installed for another 23 years!

Announcement in The Diapason (August 1, 1915):

Reuben Midmer & Son
Build Organ of Power
For St. Augustine's Church

Edifice in Brooklyn to Have Large
Three-Manual with Effective
Specification — Seventy-three
Pipes on Every Stop

Reuben Midmer & Son of Brooklyn are building a three-manual organ which will have great power and variety for St. Augustine's Catholic church of Brooklyn, thus adding to the large number of instruments constructed by them for their home city. Throughout the three manuals every stop will have seventy-three pipes and in the pedals there will be forty-four and forty-two [sic] pipes on all stops, making the registers effective throughout the scale when couplers are used. The action will be electric.

Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes

16

Open Diapason

73

4

Octave

73

8

First Open Diapason

73

4

Flute Harmonique

73

8

Second Open Diapason

73

2

Super Octave

61

8

Viola Di Gamba

73

16

Trumpet

73

8

Gemshorn

73

8

Trumpet

73

8

Gross Flöte

73

Harp

8

Doppel Flöte

73

Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed

16

Bourdon

73

2

Flageolet

61

8

Horn Diapason

73

Dolce Cornet 3 ranks

183

8

Salicional

73

16

Contra Tuba

73

8

Viol d'Orchestre

73

8

Cornopean

73

8

Vox Celeste

73

8

Oboe

73

8

Stopped Diapason

73

8

Vox Humana

73

4

Principal

73

Tremulant

4

Flauto Traverso

73

Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed

16

Contra Gamba

73

4

Violina

73

8

Violin Diapason

73

4

Flute d'Amour

73

8

Dulciana

73

2

Piccolo

61

8

Flute Clarinet

73

8

Clarinet

73

8

Unda Maris

73

Tremulant

8

Concert Flute

73

Cathedral Chimes

Pedal Organ – 32 notes

32

Contra Bourdon

44

16

Violone

44

16

Open Diapason

44

8

Violoncello

—

16

Bourdon

44

16

Trombone

44

16

Lieblich Gedeckt

SW

8

Tromba

—

8

Flute

—

Sources:
"A Tour and Festival in Old Park Slope," The New York Times (May 30, 1980).
"Midmer Organ Is Placed: Large Three-Manual Is in St. Augustine's Catholic Church," The Diapason (Nov. 1,1916). Courtesy Jonathan Bowen.
Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
"Reuben Midmer & Son Build Organ of Power for St. Augustine's Church," The Diapason (Aug. 1, 1915). Stoplist of Reuben Midmer & Son organ (1915). Courtesy Jonathan Bowen.
"St. Augustine's Art Windows," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (May 21, 1896).
"St. Augustine's New Edifice Dedicated Yesterday," The New York Times (May 16, 1892).
"The New St. Augustine's Church on Prospect Hill," The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Oct. 30, 1887).
Tower Bells Supersite web site: http://home.swbell.net/csz_stl/towerbells/TowerBells.html
Trupiano, Larry. Specifications of Geo. Kilgen & Son organ, Op. 5334 (1933).